The Dickinson press., 1887-10-01
In A CHINESE THEATRE,
A FEW INTERESTING PASSAGES
FROM A CELESTIAL PLAY.

FROM A CELESTIAL PLAY.
Tho Villain Appears with IL Piece of
Sticking Plaster on the Bridge of His
N"sc-A Dclugc Represented on the
Stage.
The play went right along. \ new charac.
ter who presented himself was Il man in a
brown suit who came forward with a smirk
and II smile such MS would have done credit
to Charlie BackuS. He looked like nn actor
born. His mobile features gave eloquencc to
his changes OF countenance. His gestures
were graceful. and, indeed his very presence
suggested the actor. The others had been as
stiff as sticks, with apparently little expert.
ence or ge.:iuS.
Sic is n good actor" said to Mr.. Sang
Kee.
"Oh, no." said he, "he is villain. The
poor young man is good, but this fellow is
bad. Do You not see that he has Il piece of
sticking plaster OH the bridge Of his noscl
That is always put OH the noses of Ind men
i'll our plays, SO that no matter how nicely
they may talk OF how kindly they may seem
to le behaving the audience knows that they
are not to be trusted"
butcher the supes put ono of the two chairs
behind the table, and when this had been done
the butcher said he must go aud open his
store He walked up and down the stage,
and then suddenly discovering the table, said:
Here is my store" He raised one hand over
his head and made believe knock on an inagi-
nary door i'll the air in front of him. Then hc
put the palms of his hands together and flung
them apart "as if opening the door," said Mr..
Sang kee. This done, the butcher sat down
behind the table, and the poor young hero
walked into the store. The hero told the
butcher all that the fairy had promised for
linn, and 10 sooner had the young man gone
away than the wicked butcher took finger
bowl of black paint anl painted great loz-
cnge like tears OH tho itiotic face of the paper
lion. Why he did this forgot to inquire,
but it evidently fulfilled the fairys prophecy,
Us the sequel showed The hero came in with
his mother, anu was good enough not to in
terrupt her while she lccturcl and counsclc
him i'll II tedious monotone in both Solilu,uy
and chanted solo. She sat like a block of
wood and delivered herself entirely through
her nose Presently her son led her out and
then came back and discovered the tears on
tho lions face. The average American school
boy Of ten years of age would better simulate
astonishment and delight thnn lie did, though
lie tried very hard to give expression to those
emotions. And lie was quite rs talented un
actor as ten of tho dozen in the troupe
Certain conventions of Chinese art ham,
percd them excessively; for instance, they
were Obliged to walk Oh tiptoe, because that
is considered the elegant thing to do; they
had to stand still while talking, and to limit
their gestures within tho narrow bounds of
the gcsticulatoHs possible to n jumping jack
Finally, whenever one sat down ho or she
felt obliged to turn his or her toes out, with
both tho knees and feet at least twelve inches
apart. Mr. Sang Kee said that was very
nice way to sit.
But you don't sit that way," said
"S'pose I'm alone, sit any way my legs
and feet happen to come. But s'pose come
to see You i'll your house, or you come to SEQ
me in my store, then pay you tho compl-
nent to arrange my feet and knees and skirts
Very particularly in that way"
| After the hero had discovered tho tears on
the lions cheeks, lie rushed Off the stage and
| then amid the widest musical clamor inar-
Unable two youths bearing banners led the
way for II man i'll flowing brown sleeves and
brcechcs, who declared himself to be the
terrible go'l of the blizzard, the cyclone, and
| the tlclugc, about to alnusc himself by drown
ing IL large part of China He pranced about
with his legs wide apart OH his toes, like a
barcfootcd man on n hot stove, and the
musicians played with such vigor that the
theatre was filled with noise like combine
tion of n boiler shop and dog pound OH
drowning day. Tho cigarettes dropped from
tho mouths of the musicians, the supcs ran up
| to the balcony to see tho terrible spectacle
and the god and his banner bearers flew
around until they were wet with pcrspiration.
After this was over the hero and his mother
came out and sung about the floods and the
necessity for hiring a rowboat They hired
one, consisting Of man who looked like n
Chinese tramp, and who had a polo in his
hand. The hero and his mother stood shoulder
to shoulder, and the bontman jabbctl the
stage as if he was polling his boat in the
water. In the next scene, amid n terrible
clamOr, the whole available force of the com.
pany was mustered on the stage, where they
sluttered and waved their arms and gaspcl]
for breath i'll various efforts to indicate that
fearful deluge was disturbing them The
gotl and his banner boys urged on the cc-
mcnts with hi,leous faces and violent scamp
ering about, and finally one actor, stout and
dissipated looking man of 50, but dressed as II
boy, threw up his hands and sank drowned,
upon tho stage.
Up to this point. if Mr.. Sang Kee had not
posted me, should have supposed the scene
to represent Chinese dance, view III mad
mouse, battle, or any one Of Il dozen other
things; but never should have guessed that
it was the flooding of a section of country.
The hero poled himself OH the stage he aud
his mother each giving little hop onward
every time he put out his pole, and lie flung
In IL
ashore, afterward splitting violently and
wringns his sleeves as if hc was soaking wet,
even to the interior of his lungs. All this
was done just us lot Of American children
might have acted in childish imitation of SIM
liar conditions. After the young hero had
sung for five minutes to u tune that was al
ready growing very familiar Since it was
only varied by tremendous clarnor when
the fairy or god came i'm, the drowned fat
man opened his eyes, recognized his tleliverer
and embraced him. In tho course Of n
tedious palaver, in which the rescued old man
said lle was 2G years old, and the hero said lie
was two years younger, the rescued old fc-
low asked if the young hero had any
brothers. NO." said tho hero II lave none,
but need them, for am poor II also am
poor" said the old fellow, "and ! will bc
your brother and We will he rich There
upon they embraced, went down on their
knees and took all oath to Joss to be true and
loving brothers. This gave the mild and
simpering mother Il chance she could not
neglect Spreading her gown like a hen
trailing its wings, she sidlcd to chair, sat
down with smirk OH her face and sang and
talked for full ten minutes, while her son and
adopted boy looked on ndmirincly. To the
same weird tune as the others lad sung to,
She counseled them to be good and rich. Mr.
Sang kee kindly explained that in the Chi
ncse theatre only one tune is allowed to each
play.
Once again the musicians banged and
scrapcd i'll the dcadliest earnest, after the
trio had gone off, this time to herald the ;l-
proacl of the king.-New York Sun.
Boston Baked Beans.
In the Boston bakeries the method of cook
ing beans is as follows: After being washed
clean they are placed in barrels or tubs and
soaked for several hours after which they